Category: Family & Friends

I drove through four states, in four hours and fifteen minutes. The first two hours found me driving through a winter wonderland, as a fresh few inches of snow had fallen, and the trees were all coated, giving them a lacy appearance. It was gorgeous!

The second half of my drive was just bleak midwinter, with bare ground and cloudy skies.

I arrives and spent part of the day playing with my grand niece, April. She is two and a half, and a fun baby girl, who was happy to spend time with her old Auntie!

We had lunch out, before April took her nap and my sister and I got to sit and chat. This is just the best!

Growing up I was very lucky to have a big sister who took care of me. She loved me, nurtured me, and made sure my needs were met. And she was just 5 and a half years older than me.

Yet, all my life, she has been there for me, as a sister, substitute mother, and best friend. How lucky I am!

So today, on her birthday, I want to make sure you all know what a wonderful sister I have and how much I wish her a very Happy Birthday!!!

Mel's Birthday from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

Today is my sister, Melodie’s Birthday. I am so lucky, because she is not just my sister, but my best friend too. We love our cell phones because even though we live far apart, we talk every day, at least once but sometimes more.

 

She is not only a wonderful sister, but a great wife and mother and grandmother.

 

Melodie Birthday from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

Melodie’s Birthday

 

Love you so much, Mel! Happy Birthday!!!

Today would have been my brother’s 65th birthday. Richard “Dickie” was seven years older than me, which when you are a child seemed like a million, billion, years.

Melodie was just two years younger, and she and Dickie were really close. When I was small, they took pretty good care of their little sister.

Melodie, Dickie and me.

My brother was born prematurely and was very small. His birth was a tough one, and he had life long after effects from it.

My brother, was well loved by many. The one thing I can say is that he tried hard, always and he loved deeply.

He married a woman with four kids, and I know he loved each and every one of them. Together they had two sons. They will unfortunately never really know how proud and happy he was the days they were born. You see, when he was in his early twenties he became ill with cancer.

He loved to cook and he loved his music. Although he never could learn to read music, all he had to do was hear something once and he could play it either on the guitar or the piano.

He learned he had cancer at the age of 26. On April 1st, April Fools Day. And he fought long and hard to win his battle against that dreaded disease. Unfortunately, back in 1977, cancer treatment was brutally hard, and seldom worked on Lymphoma and Leukemia.

Dickie passed from this life to the next on April 2nd 1978. We miss you, Dickie and hope you are happy and celebrating with all of the family up there in Heaven.

Monday found me in deep reflection as my husband’s childhood friend, passed from this world to the next. Ted had a very bad heart and had suffered for years with medical problems. His heart finally gave out and before any of us could say good-bye, he was gone.

Ted was a gentle soul. I met him early on, when Hubby and I became engaged. He was not just a brilliant mind, but had a beautiful heart.            

Way back, when computers hit the market for ordinary people like you and me, I was afraid to use them. Ted got me set up with an email, and then each day he would write me, sending me things to do on the computer.

His patience kept me going until I was finally pretty good using the machine. That was way back in the days of our old IBM, dial-up and a slowness on the Internet, that we all accepted, but would drive me insane now.

Ted and I could sit and talk for hours during his visits to our home. The fishing trips that he and hubby took to the great North Woods of New Hampshire are legendary.

  Back when we had a motor-coach, Ted would come up from New York, and the two would drive up to Pittsburgh, New Hampshire to go fishing. One time they conned me to come along to cook for them.   It rained so hard, that eventually I left to come home. I went and bought a beautiful 2 pound lobster. I was thrilled that I would have this treat after all that rain! A while later I got a call, they were headed home. Rain and no fish meant they were bored, wet and tired! I raced to the store and bought two more lobsters, but the secret was out. As we sat eating these big boys, Hubby and Ted teased me unmercifully! This memory brings only smiles!

         

 

Oh, how I will miss this wonderful man. In the last years of his life he didn’t get up here, but he was always just a Skype call away. I talked to him a couple of months ago and he was telling me all about his son, his life partner, Barbara, step daughters and grandchildren. He felt very much at peace with his family and his life.

I hope, dear Ted, that you have found a wonderful spot in Heaven. A place where all your illnesses are healed and only happiness surrounds you.

I shall miss you!

My sister and her husband met when they were just kids. I think they’d just turned 13. They met at Briarwood Conference Center, during a religious camp week for teens. They’ve been married since 1971 and remain as close as they were when they were kids!

Long before I was born my family consisted of a mother and a father and my big brother, Richard and big sister, Melodie.

They were as close as two people could be and were best friends. Here is a picture of them that Dad took in their Sunday best!

Talk about two adorable kids!